UC Berkeley School of Law Takes First in 23rd Annual Lefkowitz Competition

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Finalists from across the United States competed on March 15, 2014 in
another successful final round of INTA’s annual Saul Lefkowitz Moot
Court Competition, held at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit in Washington, D.C. In addition to likelihood of confusion and
trade dress, this year’s problem zeroed in on counterfeiting, thanks to
the collaboration between the Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition Committee
and the Anticounterfeiting Committee.

Among the 86 teams that participated in this year’s competition, the
West Region had a strong showing again, with teams from the region
taking both first and second place in the National Finals. Christina
Farmer and Wilson Dunlavey from the University of California at Berkeley
won the competition, while Brittany Zummer and Jillian Ewan from the
University of San Diego took a close second.

The competition expanded from four regions to five this year—adding the
Southwest Region, which hosted the regional competition in Dallas,
Texas. As a hat tip to the newest region, the problem featured the
fictional case of Riggs Houston v. Laredo Specialty Products, Inc. and
Lance Laredo, a dispute between a famous musician and a novelty souvenir
company. The case turned on whether musician Riggs Houston held a valid
trade dress in his iconic guitar, and if so, whether there was a
likelihood of confusion between Mr. Houston’s guitar and Lance Laredo’s
miniature toy guitar he sold at a local music festival. In addition to
trade dress infringement, Mr. Houston alleged that Mr. Laredo’s product
was a counterfeit of his guitar. After weighing the facts, the District
Court of Utopia found that Mr. Houston held a valid trade dress that Mr.
Laredo infringed. The court did not find Mr. Laredo’s product to be
counterfeit. Both parties appealed just in time for the outstanding
student teams to step in and advocate for their clients before the
fictional Court of Appeals for the Twelfth Circuit.

Jeffrey Kobulnick (Ezra Brutzkus Gubner, LLP, USA) who chaired the
Lefkowitz Committee this year, noted that yet again, the students’ oral
advocacy was of impressive quality, showing maturity and poise that are
sometimes difficult for even the most seasoned practitioners to attain.
“Not only did this year’s problem feature several thorny substantive
issues, the students were faced with judges who are experts in these
areas and who vigorously questioned the students on their positions,”
Mr. Kobulnick said. He thanked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board judges, including Chief Judge Gerard
Rogers, and interlocutory attorneys, who volunteered their time to judge
the final competition, as well as the firm of Finnegan, Henderson,
Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, and its partner Chris Foley, for
organizing and running the National Finals. Mr. Kobulnick also
recognized each of the firms and organizations that sponsored the five
regional competitions, held in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, San Francisco
and Dallas in February.

Bryce Coughlin (Fox Entertainment Group, USA) will be the Chair of the
Committee for the 2014–2015 year, with Gary Nelson (Christie Parker
Hale, LLP, USA) as the Vice Chair. “This year’s dynamic problem is a
tough act to follow, but I look forward to leading this dedicated and
diverse group of practitioners on the committee through another
challenging and exciting year,” Mr. Coughlin said. “Our commitment to
this competition is an investment in the future of our trademark bar,
and we take that responsibility very seriously.” However, he noted,
“That said, we like to have a little fun along the way as well.”

The competition was established to introduce law students to the
challenging and varied issues involved in trademark and unfair
competition law. It is named in honor of the late Saul Lefkowitz, whose
entire distinguished career was dedicated to the development of
trademark and unfair competition law. For over 30 years, Mr. Lefkowitz
was a member of the trademark examining corps in the Trademark Office
and was a member of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board from its
creation in 1958. In 1975, he was named its Chairman. He is most
particularly and fondly remembered as a mentor to young practitioners,
helping them develop an understanding of trademark law and procedures.

Many students involved in the competition go on to careers with
INTA-member organizations, as well as leadership positions in the
Association. Firms involved with the Lefkowitz Competition and many
other INTA members have hired new associates based partly on their
performance in the competition.

The following teams advanced to the National Finals:

East Region
First Place Team (total combined brief and oral argument scores): Boston College Law School (Isaac Kalish, Harrison Levy)

Second Place Team: Columbia University School of Law (Fiona Finlay-Hunt, Stephanie Piper, William Sears, Daniel Straus)

Midwest Region
First Place Team (total combined brief and oral argument scores): Chicago Kent College of Law (Sarah Aagaard, Ben Boroughf)

Second Place Team: The John Marshall Law School (Timothy James Oliver, Alex James Fawell)

Southeast Region
First Place Team (total combined brief and oral argument scores):
University of Alabama School of Law (Matthew Donze, David Beasley,
Joshua Davenport, Tiffany Palmer)

Second Place Team: Emory University School of Law (Michael Wiseman, Alyssa Baskam, Dana Schulman, David Stewart)

Southwest Region
First Place Team (total combined brief and oral argument scores):
University of Houston Law Center (Grant Buchanan, Pierce Cox, Katherine
James)

Second Place Team: University of Houston Law Center (Brandon Bludau, Jason Beesinger, Shanice Newton)

West Region
First Place Team (total combined brief and oral argument scores):
University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Christina Farmer,
Wilson Dunlavey)

Second Place Team: University of San Diego School of Law (Brittany Zummer, Jillian Ewan)

The National Finals Winners were:
Winning Team: University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Wilson Dunlavey, Christina Farmer)

Second Place Team: University of San Diego School of Law (Jillian Ewan, Brittany Zummer)

Third Place Team: The John Marshall Law School (Timothy James Oliver, Alex James Fawell)

Dolores K. Hanna Best Brief Award: University of Houston Law Center (Grant Buchanan, Pierce Cox, Katherine James)Second Place Brief: University of San Diego School of LawBest Oral Argument: Columbia University School of Law (Fiona Finlay-Hunt, Stephanie Piper, William Sears, Daniel Straus)Second Place Oral Argument Team: The John Marshall Law School

INTA would like to thank the Saul Lefkowitz Competition Committee members, volunteers and sponsors. See the full list here.

*Correction: This article incorrectly lists James Walsh as an Administrative Trademark Judge with the TTAB. Mr. Walsh retired from the USPTO two years ago and now runs the Law Office of James Walsh.

Although every effort has been made to verify the
accuracy of items in the INTA Bulletin, readers are urged to check
independently on matters of specific concern or interest.